High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is currently used in several hundred million digital televisions and other consumer electronics that incorporate digital video and/or audio, such as game consoles, digital-video-disc (DVD) players, Blu-ray-disc players, and digital-set-top boxes. HDMI is a first single cable solution for transmission of uncompressed digital video signals using any suitable television or personal computer (PC) video format, including standard, enhanced, and high-definition video and/or audio signals using any suitable television and/or PC audio format from a source device to a sink device.
DisplayPort was developed to address computing-world concerns and replace the external, box-to-box, analog-video-graphics-array (VGA) interfaces in PC and LCD monitors, as well as in consumer electronics, but it also targets the external digital-visual-interface (DVI) found mostly in consumer electronics systems. DisplayPort is a second single cable solution for transmission uncompressed of video signals using any suitable television or PC video format and/or audio signals using any suitable television or PC audio format from the source device to the sink device.
HDMI is mainly used in the high definition consumer electronics market, such as an external interface for high-definition televisions to provide an example. DisplayPort, on the other hand, is a a general-purpose internal and external display interface aimed at the computer industry. Both HDMI and DisplayPort are used for the transmission of video signals and/or audio signals from the source device to the sink device. With the gradual convergence of high definition consumer electronics market and the computer industry, manufacturers will like to design source devices that are capable of transmitting the video signals and/or the audio signals using either HDMI and DisplayPort. However, HDMI and DisplayPort both transmit the video signals and/or the audio signals in differing ways. As a result of these differences, a typical HDMI source device includes a HDMI transmitter that is solely configured according to the HDMI interface standard. Likewise, a typical DisplayPort source device includes a DisplayPort transmitter that is solely configured according to the DisplayPort interface standard. Presently, to design a source device that transmits according to the HDMI interface standard and the DisplayPort interface standard, manufacturers design source devices with separate transmitters, one transmitter configured for HDMI and another separate transmitter configured for DisplayPort. These separate transmitters increase a cost and/or size of the source device.
Therefore, what is needed is a source device having a single transmitter that is capable of transmitting video signals and/or audio signals using either the HDMI interface standard or the DisplayPort interface standard.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the reference number.